September 28, 2025 Breakfast - Lax and Bagel. Snack - Shrimp Salad on toast and PPI pasta. Dinner - Grilled Trout wrapped in Korean Basil on a bed of salad with an ear of corn

September 28, 2025 Breakfast - Lax and Bagel. Snack - Shrimp Salad on toast and PPI pasta. Dinner - Grilled Trout wrapped in Korean Basil on a bed of salad with an ear of corn

This was a work and rest day with a great dinner.

I started out watching some soccer then Fareed and a bit of Arsenal v. Newcastle. But started helping Suzette around 10:00 with an IDR response and missed the exciting finish when Arsenal scored two goals in the last few minutes to win and go into 2nd place in the Premier League

At 9:15 I toasted three 1/4 thick slices of bagel and spread cream  cheese on them and garnished them with thin onion, avocado, and lax slices.  

At 2:00 I made a snack for us of Swedish Shrimp Salad on a slice of toasted Bosque bakery whole wheat sourdough bread. I also ate the four or five forkfuls of PPI penne and beef and mushrooms with a shishito.

From 4:00 until 6:00 I rested, while Suzette drove to Lowe’s and bought three 1 x 6 inch cedar planks and cut a part of one board and soaked it.

I got up at 6:00 to start preparing dinner. Suzette hade started making a salad with lettuce, radish spears, and cherry tomato halves. I cut the head and tail off the three trout I bought at Costco Friday. Then I made a stuffing by slicing five or six green onions into thin ringlets and mixing them with butter and lemon thyme leaves plus salt and pepper. I stuffed the mixture into the stomach cavity of each trout and wrapped each with thread to hold the cavity closed. Suzette picked lemon thyme and Korean basil in the garden. She wrapped the trout in Korean Basil and then grilled the fish.

Then I finished the salad while Suzette boiled two ears of corn.

Suzette added avocado and I added cucumber and onion and made a Dijonnaise dressing and dressed the salad.

When the trout were grilled, I filleted one and we put 1 filet on each salad and fetched our corn bowls and served an ear of corn with the warm fish salad.

I poured glasses of Kirkland Marlborough New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, a great bottle of wine for $6.99 at Costco.

The best part of the meal was that Suzette clipped a basket of lemon thyme from the garden. I added about a T. of thyme to the green onion and butter stuffing for the trout and the most exciting use was sprinkling leaves on the ear of corn that gave a very pleasant citrusy flavor to the corn.  This was a new flavor discovery.

We ate a fabulous dinner and have two smoked trout left to eat. 

After dinner we watched the Marvel Murder Club and then the end of regulation of the Cowboys v. Green Bay.  When overtime started Suzette went to bed and I watched Astrid at 10:00.

At 11:00 I blogged this entry and rhen went to sleep.

Bon Appetit

September 27, 2025 Snack - Hot Chocolate with Chocolate Croissant, Brunch - Sautéed Sausage and Roasted Potatoes and onions with Poached Eggs, Dinner Beef Brisket, pinto beans, and potato salad at Vicky and Jeff’s 20th Anniversary Party.

September 27, 2025 Snack - Hot Chocolate with Chocolate Croissant, Brunch - Sautéed Sausage and Roasted Potatoes and onions with Poached Eggs, Dinner Beef Brisket, pinto beans, and potato salad at Vicky and Jeff’s 20th Anniversary Party.

I woke up and watched PL League soccer . The most impressive match was between Crystal Palace and Liverpool that has won all five of its first five matches. CP won and went into second place three points behind Liverpool. I made a cup of hot chocolate flavored with rum and drank it with a chocolate croissant.

Then at 11:30 Suzette made breakfast b sautéing two Jimmie Dean sausage patties with several cups of PPI roasted potatoes, garlic, and onion and then poached there eggs on top of the eggs in covered the skillet.

After lunch I watched  more soccer and then some of the Illinois v. USC football game and napped until 4:00.

Suzette worked at her desk and made pinto beans with chorizo, cilantro, and shishito peppers.

Then at 5:30 we took the beans and a bottle of Gruet Brut Sparkling wine to the 20th wedding anniversary party at their house in Bosque Farms.

Suzette ‘s Bistro kitchen cooked the brisket.  We enjoyed the dinner and talked to several folks , many of whom had worked for Suzette in the past. The young lady who sat by us had made the cupcakes with a marble batter and a wonderful cream cheese and cream Chantilly icing.

We arrived at 6:30 and left at 8:00.

When we returned home we watched TV. At 8:15 to 9:00 we watched Madame Blanc, a new PBS Mystery series.  Then we watched Bill Maherand Have I got new for you on CNN.p with a sip of Kelt cognac.

Then at11:00 Suzette went to bed and I stayed up to watch Anderson Cooper’s weekend news summary and went bed after midnight.

Bob Appetit

September 26, 2025 Lunch - Pita Sandwiches with kebabs. Dinner - Oysters at Winrock concert and Snack - Salami and cheese sandwiches

September 26, 2025 Lunch - Pita Sandwiches with kebabs. Dinner - Oysters at Winrock concert and Snack - Salami and cheese sandwiches

I awakened at 7:40 and ate a bowl of granola with milk, and grapes.

Then I worked until 12:25 and heated a PPI kebab and two pieces of a large Iraqi pita and spread creamy feta and tzatziki on it and wrapped 1/2 of a kebab and ate two sandwiches with some cucumber, tomato, and onion salad wit water for lunch. I also called Whole Foods and ordered 36 oysters on the half shell, 12 well fleets, 12 Standish and 12 of another oyster recommended by the seafood attendant.

Then I worked I drove to a 1:30 meeting that lasted two hours.

After the meeting I drove to Costco and bought six bottles of wine, a Kirkland New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, a Côtes du Rhône, a Vacqueyras res, a Napa Cabernet Sauvignon marked Dow from $22.95 to $13.95, a Precision Cab, and a Kirkland Malbec.

I also bought fresh trout, lamb chops, butter, and white mushrooms.

I then drove home and arrived at 4:45. I ate some shrimp salad on a heated toast point and lay down for 10 minutes.

While I rested Suzette made cocktail sauce. When I woke up I poured the rest of a bottle of Santiago Station Chilean Sauvignon Blanc into a water bottle and we drove to Whole Foods where I picked up the 36 oysters and we drove to Winrock Shopping Center. 

We carried our oysters to a table within the children’s play area. Winrock has transformed the center of their mall into a stage and grassed music venue with the children’s play area next to it and to the east a pond with water spouts.  It is all quite beautiful.

We finished our oysters around 6:20 and the music started at 6:30. Los Gatos, a South Valley conjunto rock band played for an hour and then Cafe Mocha played until we left at 7:45.

There was a sense of community among the 2000 to 3000 gathered for the free concert. On the way out we stopped to talk to Anna and her husband, Jim, who live in Bosque Farms.

We arrived home around 8:15 and I made three salami and cheese sandwiches on toast points with Mayo and one shrimp salad sandwich on toast points.

We watched the game until 9:1 t when Suzette went to bed. 

I stayed up to watch Arizona State beat TCU and then blogged this entry.

Bon Appetit

September 25, 2025 Lunch - Dave’s High Desert Grill Dinner - PPI Penne Pasta with Pesto, Squash, Chicken, mushrooms, steak, and shishito peppers

September 25, 2025 Lunch - Dave’s High Desert Grill  Dinner - PPI Penne Pasta with Pesto, Squash, Chicken, mushrooms, steak, and shishito peppers

I had three clients at a pn 8:30 hearing with a pro se person trying to practice law that went nowhere. The judge wisely sent us to mediation.

Then at 11:00i I drove Charlie to Dave’s High Desert Grill for lunch with the book club.

The menu was vast but it was more like a chain restaurant. I succumbed to the lure of a specialty hamburger with Andouille sausage when the waiter said it could be served with onion rings instead of French fries. Unfortunately the fried shell on the onion rings was broken and the onion rings were soggy with grease instead of wet with steam.

I was immediately put off when the greeter said we would need to wait for our entire group before we were seated because Charlie and I were the first to arrive. 

I took my seat at the table anyway. I should have argued that I would move to any other table in the nearly empty restaurant if our party did not arrive. I had the immediate feeling of being in a chain restaurant with frigid rules that were decidedly inhospitable.

So a bad experience.

We then drove to Travis’ house for book club and had a rather somber discussion of in the Wolf’s Mouth by Foulds.

After book club around 3:45 I drove Charlie home and drove to Walgreen’s and got a flu shot and a Tetanus shot.

When I returned home Suzette was in an ebullient mood having enjoyed her two day conference and a shopping spree at two estate sales where she bought two sets of silverware. One was gold washed and the other a Japanese specialty set for, as yet, unidentified uses.

We gave up watching the news at 6:00 and went to the garden and picked basil, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and shishito peppers. When we returned to the house we decided to add squash, PPI steak, and six fresh shishito peppers we had picked in the garden to the PPI Penne pasta, pesto, and chicken dish.

                 A ceramic fish Suzette bought at the estate sale with a fossilized seashell

We sautéed the squash and shishitos and steak and then added the leftover Penne to make a hearty penne mixed grill dish.

I really liked this dish, with the added beef and fresh sautéed squash that added to the richness and freshness of the dish and added meat and vegetable flavor that integrated with the pesto and cheese sauce.

We drank the leftover Chilean Red wine from the party last Friday.

After dinner we watched a local documentary about the period of federal court jurisdiction of New Mexico from 1846 to 1912 that described the facts and law surrounding a number of famous cases.

Then we watched Midsomer Murders and went to bed at 9:30 after a long day of activity for both of us.

We are really enjoying the fresh vegetables and herbs from our garden this summer and happy to be at home.  It looks we may shift our period of travel to the early spring and late fall in the future so we can enjoy our garden every year.

Bon Appetit

September 24, 2025 Breakfast - Shrimp Omelet. Lunch - PPI Vietnamese soup from Saigon City plus green onion and Spinach, Dinner - PPI Penne pasta with chicken and snow peas

September 24, 2025 Breakfast - Shrimp Omelet. Lunch - PPI Vietnamese soup from Saigon City plus green onion and Spinach,  Dinner - PPI Penne pasta with chicken and snow peas 

I had a busy day. I paid the first three quarters’ estimated taxes and sent Willy a gift and talked to Willy about investment strategy for a while I cooked a shrimp omelet with Napa cabbage, red onion, and mushroom for breakfast.

Then at 12:00 I added spinach and green onion ringlets to the leftover Vietnamese egg vermicelli soup from Saigon City Restaurant. I was sweet and delicious.

Then from 12:45 to 2:45 I met with Frank to discuss the trial tomorrow.

I printed the exhibits until 3:25, when I meditated for thirty minutes.

I lay down for a nap from 4:15 until 5:15 when I walked to Laguna and back that got my steps to 3850 for today.

Then at 6:30 I heated PPI Penne Pasta with Chicken, snow peas and mushrooms and added fresh basil and grated Pecorino Romano cheese.

I downloaded exhibits from 7:00 to 8:00 and spoke to Luke briefly.

Then at 8:00 I watched an episode of a nova documenting the spread of Homo sapiens from Africa across five continents starting around 75,000 years ago p. The theory is tharpt our larger brain allowed us to adapt to regions that were inhospitable to earlier forms of primates.  Next week will discuss the interaction between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.

At 9:00 I watched a documentary on the effects of climate change on holy shrines in Japan and how the Japanese are planting forests to protect populations from Natural disasters such as tsunamis and cyclones and typhoons.

I checked my portfolio and it was down again today, about .06%.

I drank a limoncello after dinner and ate some fruitcake with a cup of tea at 9:00 before bed at 10:00.

Bon Appetit